Cholesterol Does Not Cause Heart Disease
Taking statins to reduce cholesterol to prevent heart disease is like not wearing wool to prevent automobile accidents.

And tragically, there's a study out (which I have not read...MSNBC report) showing a link between women who take statins -- with zero benefit for them, though that's not what their scientific charlatan doctors tell them -- and developing diabetes. From the Dr. Michael Eades link above on statins:

The gold standard trials have shown no benefit for women and no benefit to men over 65 or to men under 65 who have never had heart disease. The only improvement in all-cause mortality has been in men under 65 who have been diagnosed with heart disease, and even that benefit is so small that many people question if the extra cost and side effects of the statins are worth it.

You are all no doubt acquainted with the popular hypothesis on cholesterol and heart disease. It has two parts: first, that eating cholesterol in the diet raises cholesterol levels in the blood; and two, that high cholesterol levels in the blood cause heart disease.

You might be surprised to learn that neither of these statements is true. The first one is relatively easy to dispatch. In the Framingham Heart Study, which is the longest-running and perhaps most significant study on heart disease done to date, it was demonstrated that intake of cholesterol in the diet had absolutely no correlation with heart disease. If you look at the graph (on Kresser's site at the link), you'll see that both men and women with above average intake of cholesterol had nearly identical rates of heart disease as men and women with below average intake of cholesterol.

In fact, the "diet-heart hypothesis", which is the scientific name for the idea that eating cholesterol causes heart disease, has even been discounted by the researchers who were responsible for its genesis. Ancel Keys, who in many ways can be considered the "father" of the cholesterol-heart disease hypothesis, had this to say in 1997:

"There's no connection whatsoever between the cholesterol in food and cholesterol in the blood. And we've known that all along. Cholesterol in the diet doesn't matter at all unless you happen to be a chicken or a rabbit."

...The second tenet of the cholesterol-heart disease hypothesis, the notion that high cholesterol levels in the blood cause heart disease, is referred to as the "lipid hypothesis" in the scientific community. Though it still accepted as gospel truth by the general public and many medical professionals, most researchers now believe the primary causes of heart disease are inflammation and oxidative stress. Unfortunately, the rest of us haven't gotten the memo, so to speak, that cholesterol isn't the cause of heart disease.

...Another consistent thorn in the side of supporters of the "lipid hypothesis" is that women suffer 300% less heart disease than men, in spite of having higher average cholesterol levels. At the recent Conference on Low Blood Cholesterol, which reviewed 11 major studies including 125,000 women, it was determined that there was absolutely no relationship between total cholesterol levels and mortality from cardiovascular or any other causes.

Nor is cholesterol a risk factor in all populations around the world. In fact, some of the populations with the highest levels of blood cholesterol have among the lowest rates of heart disease, and vice versa.

Low cholesterol, however, can be dangerous to your health. Don't count on your internist practicing evidence-based medicine. My last one didn't. I just ignored everything she said and used her for tests and access to other doctors at my HMO.

Comments

We evolved to live on animal parts, leaves, fruits, and roots. Stick to that, avoid grain, sugar, dairy, and beans and you will avoid chronic disease and stay slender. And it cures acne.

Old Guy
at January 10, 2012 6:39 AM

I just tried to change life ins companies. They made me take a physical, and the bloodwork came back with slightly high cholesterol. They quoted me $120 a month. Insane. Not to mention, I'd just HAD a physical with bloodwork from my PCP, and it all came back with great numbers-normal cholesterol and high good cholesterol. Needless to say, I won't be switching. And I eat fullfat meat and fullfat dairy, and TONS of cheese.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/01/10/cholesterol_doe.html#comment-2907416">comment from momof4

They made me take a physical, and the bloodwork came back with slightly high cholesterol.

This is great. It's protective in women, providing LDL is healthy (see note about particles - which I learned from Dr. Michael Eades and then read up on elsewhere) and triglycerides are low. The idiotic thing is, people are being judged as unhealthy who are probably quite healthy. Low cholesterol causes all sorts of problems! My sleep, my skin, my body...all are healthier thanks to eating low-carb. Plus, it sure beats tofu and other "health" foods.

I emailed this to a coworker. He's pleased that he can eat all the salmon and steak he wants without worrying about the cholesterol. We had just had a conversation about eating egg yolks when I saw the post.

My own experience has been that eating mostly fatty, high-cholesterol foods didn't affect my total cholesterol level. After several months on a low-carb diet, my TC went from 135 to 140. (But my HDL went from 42 to 57, and now it's over 60. Triblycerides were always low.)

There was a study from a few years back--don't have the reference--where doctors were shown the blood workup of various patients and asked to give a prognosis. They did worse than chance.

My doctor bugs me every year to go on statins. I refuse. Last year, after he pointed out that it would reduce my chance of death by 0.3%, and I said that even if true, it didn't outweigh the risks, he conceded that he doesn't take them either for that reason. I felt like smacking him.

Joe
at January 10, 2012 7:17 PM

There was a study many moons ago (late 90's?) that they associated low cholesterol levels with overly aggressive behavior in males. I think they controlled for testosterone levels.

I don't know how much was solid, and how much was BS, but it always intrigued me because my lady's SIL was a chiropractic assistant that was almost a vegetarian.